I winced. Lois was about ten seconds away from an aneurysm from the sounds of it. But she also knew I was right. When she’d been in this exact same situation, she hadn’t stepped away. She’d protected her mate herself, not caring how it might affect her career.
“Fine, if you’re not stepping away, I’m going to need to put a second agent on the case with you. My first responsibility is to the client.”
“So is mine, boss. But how are we going to explain having two people here?” I asked. “It’s already weird enough for a writer to be staying with a woman she just met.”
“You don’t know a lot of lesbians, do you Weatherby? There’s a reason why there’s that joke about lesbians bringing a U-Haul to their second date.”
She mumbled something I didn’t catch but I was pretty sure it was something unflattering about my intellect.
“I’ll keep the team out of sight. See if we can commandeer a vacant unit or something so they’ll be close in case the shit goes down but not underfoot. Stand by, I’ll message you later.”
“Yes ma’am and thank you.”
Lois hung up without another word.
“Everything okay?”
I jumped as Ruby stuck her head through the partially open sliding glass door. She’d changed into a pair of soft looking sweats and a pair of thick socks.
“Yeah, I was just talking to my boss about something.”
“It sounded serious.”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me. “Lois is very unhappy with me right now.”
“Would ice cream help?” she asked. “You’re an adult, you can have it before dinner if you want. Or instead of dinner. I won’t judge.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “What flavor?”
“Rocky road.”
“Okay, I’m in.”
I had a surprisingly fun night with my mate. While we ate our ice cream Ruby challenged me to a game of Scrabble. I hadn’t played any board games since I was a young girl, back when my grandmother was alive, and I enjoyed it more than I would have guessed.
It was a close game, but Ruby edged me out by five points before saying good night and heading to bed.
I did a search of the condo, double checking locks on the doors and windows, then checked in with Wanda who I knew was set up in a van down on the street. Once I was confident that everything was secure, I unpacked some of my stuff, took a shower, and spent some time knitting until I finally felt sleepy enough to go to bed. It had been a big day.
The smell of coffee woke me up just after seven. I was surprised that I’d slept that late, but a quick glance told me that my mate was still sleeping as well. Realizing the coffee pot was on a timer, I got dressed, did another perimeter search of the condo, and checked in with my team downstairs before helping myself to a cup of coffee.
“I’m heading off duty in an hour,” Wanda told me. “Everything was quiet last night. Martha is on shift next.”
“Roger that, thank you.”
I was reading my emails on my laptop when I heard Ruby get up. I heard her pad around her room, then spend some time in the bathroom before coming to the kitchen. She looked sleepy, her long brown hair wild and tangled, a crease on her cheek from the pillow. She was wearing the same sweats I’d seen her in last night, but without a bra. I tried not to notice the way her little nipples poked against the threadbare fabric of her shirt.
“Hey, good morning,” she said sleepily.
“Good morning.”
I’d poured myself a glass of my morning blood and was taking a sip of it when I heard Ruby make a little squeaking noise. When I glanced back up at her, she was blinking at my lips. Realizing I must have a blood mustache, I wiped it off with the back of my hand.
Suddenly my mate turned deathly white and hit the floor like a ton of bricks.
“Ruby! Ruby are you okay?”
I dropped to my knees on the floor next to her, my fingers going to the pulse at her neck. Her heart was beating strongly, and she wasn’t frothing at the mouth or seizing, so I wasn’t sure why she’d passed out.
